Shloka 29
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
क्षिपत्येकेन वेगेन पजच बाणशतानि य: । इष्वस्त्रे सदृशो राज्ञ: कार्तवीर्यस्य पाण्डव:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
kṣipaty ekena vegena pañca bāṇaśatāni yaḥ |
iṣv-astre sadṛśo rājñaḥ kārtavīryasya pāṇḍavaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Ang Pāṇḍava na yaon na sa iisang bugso ng bilis ay nakapagpapakawala ng limandaang palaso; at sa agham ng mga sandatang palaso at pag-archery ay itinuturing na kapantay ni Haring Kārtavīrya—kumusta sa panahong ito si Arjuna, kapatid at kaibigan mo?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of kṣatriya excellence—mastery of weapons, disciplined power, and reliability as a protector. By measuring Arjuna against the legendary Kārtavīrya, it underscores how extraordinary capability becomes a moral and strategic responsibility in the coming conflict.
In Udyoga Parva, as war preparations intensify, the narrator reports a description of Arjuna’s unmatched archery—able to release five hundred arrows in a single rush and comparable to Kārtavīrya in missile-science—framed as an anxious inquiry about Arjuna’s present condition.